Curveball speculation but kinda a neat concept I was thinking about. What if this movie doesn't take place in 2019/2020?

What if this takes place in the early 2000s? Then you could jump ahead and do an IT Chapter 2 scenario where the kids from this movie are adults and are now the Ghostbusters. Far fetched but a fun idea I think.

Oh very interesting take, but I believe that Jason Reitman was quoted as saying that the story takes place in the PRESENT DAY and what happened in the 80s happened in the 80s.

The first character breakdown reads, "UNNAMED (LEAD BOY 2) To play 12 years old. Slender, pale, dark hair, piercing blue eyes, aquiline features, high cheekbones, withdrawn. He’s prodigious — bright, witty, stubborn, and remains playful in spite of hardship. He is also a brilliantly quick thinker under pressure, is at ease with technology, and has a high facility for problem-solving."

Another reported character is described, "UNNAMED (LEAD GIRL 2): To play 13 years old. Fun-loving, a bit of an airhead. Always curious, haunted, charmed, dazed."

I don’t know. Are character breakdowns usually that specific? I mean lead girl 2 description seems a bit slapped together compared to lead boy 2. I m calling shenanigans.

Neither does a painting coming to life but we got over that didn't we?

And who says it can be improved? Toasters. Sewing machines. Dinnerware. Plates. Bowls. Sewing needles. All the same after decades just cosmetic changes. You could argue proton packs are like cellphones or flat screen televisions where it's the same tech but smaller or slimmer but proton packs are already decades ahead of what is possible for real world counterparts like cyclotrons. The science behind the Ghostbusters gear hasn't advanced that much so there would be no reason to change it. Could the traps spark less? Sure. Could the PKE meter screens go from LED's to digital screens? Sure (even thought most meters like that still use lights) But the only reason to change the equipment is cosmetic reasons and that makes no sense.

We have to keep in mind that the equipment was being worked on in a Barn shed, and kept breaking down along with a tarped and rusted Ecto-1. If there are any changes (and there will be) they'll be cosmetic and very rough. I'm thinking what they did to the Delorean in Back to the Future 3 is likely what we'll be getting. It's not being worked on in a high tech lab, so I can't see us getting sleek and modernized equipment.

Exactly and science technologies move slowly. Watch an old sci-fi film and the equipment there is what you used in science class which is what is being used today.

Even the paranormal investigating equipment in Poltergeist is the same equipment trusted in the field 37 years later. Tech in that field hasn't advanced much beyond size and the science behind it has stayed the same.

Last edited by Coover5 on February 14th, 2019, 6:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I don't have a great grasp of when I first saw Ghostbusters. It may've been somewhere in the 2-4 region, and may've been eased in by the fact that The Real Ghostbusters had been showing for a few years in the U.K. after it'd made its debut on Boxing Day, 1987. I more vividly remember watching Ghostbusters II on a video cassette that I think my Mum had borrowed or rented, which might've been 1990, or 1991 (I would've been 4 or 5). Anecdote - It was watching Ghostbusters II that germinated my interest in the R.M.S. Titanic, and what I'd eventually learn to be Alfred Ely Beach's secret pneumatic subway.

I've been thinking about the classic props a lot of late, thanks to the teaser. I have a strong feeling we'll see a lot of the classic gear in 2020, although whether it'll be fully used is another matter. A further matter is whether they'll use the existing props, or go for new builds.

The example set by Ghostbusters II in mind, I suspect we'll likely see new builds of the classic gear, versus the stuff being brought out of the archives:

•While Sony retains a number of the Proton Packs, at least one (if not both) hero Slime Blowers (we don't know if any stunt versions were produced), the Giga Meter, and presumably a few Ghost Traps, a handful of items (including one of the hero Packs) have been sold off over the years.
•Of the props they do still hold, a number of them have been damaged through poor handling or display, and a number of the Proton Packs have been modified electronically. At some point after 1989, it appears at least four or five props were reconfigured - if the GBII semi-hero that Sean Bishop and Ken Huegel got a chance to open up is any indication, the lights were changed to be static, and drew their power from a wall socket via a cord and plug.
Bill's "Minnesota" Pack, at least one of the Packs on display at Planet Hollywood New York, and both Sony lobby Packs had these modifications.
•The P.K.E. Meter prop (or props, there's some debate as to if there was a second) is either in private hands or missing (there was a story from years ago that it was stolen, but that too is up for debate).
•The radio-controlled hero Ghost Trap from Ghostbusters II was auctioned last year.

Given the props that've been sold off, damaged in Sony's care, and modified, and potentially stolen, I kinda feel that in the long run that if any classic gear gets more than a fleeting appearance - if any of it gets used to any significant degree, Jason Reitman's production would probably just make some new props, weathered to look like they're 30 years old, rather than bring the old gear out of retirement.

The advances in production techniques would serve as another reason to produce some new stuff, rather than risk breaking... Or wasting time rewiring the old gear: The weight issues of the old Proton Packs can be relieved by 3D-printed parts, and revolutionised lighting circuitry and boards. The missing P.K.E. Meter can be substituted for a freshly-moulded Iona Polisher, or a 3D print, or even a modified Matty Collector replica.
The techniques available to today's prop builders may offer flexibility in functionality that their counterparts in the 1980s could only dream of. We may even see the 'guts' of the equipment for the first time in the live-action films (not including 2016).

And, if I'm being honest, I think it's only fair to let the1984/1989 props enjoy their retirement. If the classic gear is to be retired for newer versions that are to be produced in the story, then it makes sense to let a new generation of clasically-styled equipment take the beating the plot may throw at them...

Awesome break down. I didn’t think about where a lot of the original props wound up over the years. I am pretty sure and rather hoping that any of the classic equipment that we see will be reproductions made to look 30 years old like you suggested. You are hitting the nail on the head on what I believe will make it possible for the OGs to POSSIBLY suit up again. If the use of the more modern techniques and what Fans have done for cosplay the equipment definitely isn’t as heavy as the original stuff.

I keep thinking about the teaser. I didn’t stop to think that maybe the equipment won’t exactly be in dis repair. I mean it could just be a hint of what Ray has been doing in his spare time before the movie opens. I mean you hear someone struggling to repair what I believe to be the original packs, but the last thing you hear just as the Summer 2020 text pops up is it successfully firing up. Could be a hint that Ray has got that equipment ready for use by the time the film opens. Heck Ray could be working to get the equipment and the car running.

Again I think we will see the classic equipment being used in conjunction with newer equipment. Just like the Slime Blowers in Ghostbusters 2. Maybe in this movie we will see some of the Ghostbusters in this movie carrying Mak 1 Proton Packs and Mak 1 Slime Blowers and some will be using Mak 2 and 3 equipment. I am really excited to be discussing this.

The OGB will have a prominent role in the field with Murray making a more withdrawn role. Not a cameo but not as much as Aykroyd and Hudson. They'll carry the packs and drive the Ecto saying they are too old for this sh@t that turn you white.

The kids will be the brains, helping them investigate and suggesting how to upgrade the tools and how to do research in a faster and more modern way (I can picture Ray somehow clinging to the past, not being at ease with smartphones and similar).

The movie will not be a reopening thing. They'll investigate and bust undercover until the climax when they confront the big baddie. Then they'll show themselves to the people, who thought they were gone for good.

Big battle. The original GB struggle to fight the enemy, the kids help them with some equipment they concocted together. After the villain is defeated, the Ghostbusters reopen the firehouse. Fast forward 8-10 years. A slightly older Ray and Winston watch as the new (now 20 something years old adults) leave the Firehouse with a new Ecto to do some routine busting.

From GB4 forward we'll see the new team front and centre with Ray sitting around in the Firehouse helping with R&D.

Exactly and science technologies move slowly. Watch an old sci-fi film and the equipment there is what you used in science class which is what is being used today.

What? A high school science lab is no comparison to a well-funded laboratory at the forefront of scientific endeavour. Science technology may grind in some areas, but it gallops in others: just look at how much of a revolution the L.E.D. has gone through from the 1980s up until now. Same with mobile telephones.

If high school science labs aren't comparable to a well-funded laboratory then how was Mr Bean able to fill a room full of cool blue smoke by accident in an episode of his TV show? I don't care what anyone says. That's high tech!

Seriously though it is still comparable to a certain degree. You brought up CSI in an earlier comment so I know you're familiar with it. Real crime scene investigators pointed out that it was extremely high tech pushing the limits of what was possible and the same was said about the hospital on House MD and the labs on Bones. As cutting edge as those labs were they were still full of microscopes, tongs, beakers, test tubes, centrifuges, and uv lights which have been around for decades. The show Big Bang Theory, while not everyone's cup of tea, made an effort to show real science and had replicated tech to make the sets accurate. But the sets were still mostly rubber gloves and test tubes with dry erase boards and clip boards plus some telescopes. The crime CSI, House, Bones and Big Bang Theory all committed was pushing the tech too cutting edge for what one place might be capable of but were never called out for being outdated. So I would say while we can't be 100% sure I think the efforts made by some TV shows to be true to their sciences show that yes decades old equipment still rule.

See, I have a different theory on the equipment. If the state of the Ecto-1 is an actual hint at the plot then I think it would be safe to assume that the rest of the equipment isn't in great condition. BUT, if the movie centers around pre-teens who are somehow connected to the Ghostbusters, who is to say these kids don't snag some of the old equipment from wherever the GBs stored it once they shut down/retired/whatever.

Old equipment used throughout the movie, but it doesn't really work all that well. Third act have them get all new fully functional equipment for the climax.

See, I have a different theory on the equipment. If the state of the Ecto-1 is an actual hint at the plot then I think it would be safe to assume that the rest of the equipment isn't in great condition. BUT, if the movie centers around pre-teens who are somehow connected to the Ghostbusters, who is to say these kids don't snag some of the old equipment from wherever the GBs stored it once they shut down/retired/whatever.

Old equipment used throughout the movie, but it doesn't really work all that well. Third act have them get all new fully functional equipment for the climax.

See, I have a different theory on the equipment. If the state of the Ecto-1 is an actual hint at the plot then I think it would be safe to assume that the rest of the equipment isn't in great condition. BUT, if the movie centers around pre-teens who are somehow connected to the Ghostbusters, who is to say these kids don't snag some of the old equipment from wherever the GBs stored it once they shut down/retired/whatever.

Old equipment used throughout the movie, but it doesn't really work all that well. Third act have them get all new fully functional equipment for the climax.

I doubt kids could handle the equipment considering grown men struggled to keep it under control but I find it much more believable than what other people suggested which is the kids build new equipment. Not sure about new equipment making a quick apperance at the end. i feel like it has to be worked on through the film.

Why I question new equipment from kids (or anyone who isn't an original Buster): Avergae house in 84 was valued at $80k with inflation that's about $194k. Now, if Ray got 3 mortages then they'd have borrowed about $582k in today's money. (Which is down playing how much they got in the film because the interest rate alone was $90k) If only 1/3 went to Equipment that means the basic equipment set up ran about $194,000. Then there are two battling ideas. The parts needed might become outdated but at the same time inflation still happens to raise the price on parts even if they are outdated. But let's be generous and say the cost of equipment has been cut down 80% that still means for the basic equipment setup it's going to cost $38,800. There is no way kids or even your average inventor could build that. You may say I'm thinking about it too much but Aykroyd knows everything about the equipment. He knows the weight. He knows the cost. He knows what it can do and what it can't. Aykroyd explains everything in his scripts even if it doesn't make it in so he knows everything before we could even ask. If he's consulting on the GB20 script at all he's taking these details into account.

But that makes no sense. The technology would have evolved drastically in the time between Ghostbusters 2 and Ghostbusters 3.

Neither does a painting coming to life but we got over that didn't we?

That's completely different. A supernaturally enhanced event. We're talking about the prospect of technology having not evolved in the three decades since Ghostbusters II came out, which wouldn't be accurate to real life. Technology always progresses.

Toasters. Sewing machines

Which in the past look completely different to toasters and sewing machines now.

Dinnerware. Plates. Bowls. Sewing needles.

Not technology.

All the same after decades just cosmetic changes. You could argue proton packs are like cellphones or flat screen televisions where it's the same tech but smaller or slimmer but proton packs are already decades ahead of what is possible for real world counterparts like cyclotrons. The science behind the Ghostbusters gear hasn't advanced that much so there would be no reason to change it. Could the traps spark less? Sure. Could the PKE meter screens go from LED's to digital screens? Sure (even thought most meters like that still use lights) But the only reason to change the equipment is cosmetic reasons and that makes no sense.

I disagree. In the three decades that have passed you'd naturally expect the technology to have advanced significantly (because that's what technology does). The Proton Packs would surely have become much smaller, the ghost traps activated via a smartphone instead of your foot and as you pointed out the PKE meters would almost certainly have LED displays. It would be a little unrealistic for the film not to show the passage of time through the Ghostbusting technology.

Tell that to the decades old jets used in the air force or the space shuttle. Tell that to refrigerators. Tell that to cars. Have there been minor advances? Yes. Touch screens on fridges. Newer radios in cars. But that doesn't have anything to do with the functionality of the product.

Which in the past look completely different to toasters and sewing machines now.

I'm not sure you know what technology is if you're confused like this. I think this'll be the end of our discussion of this if you need this explained to you.

I disagree. In the three decades that have passed you'd naturally expect the technology to have advanced significantly (because that's what technology does). The Proton Packs would surely have become much smaller, the ghost traps activated via a smartphone instead of your foot and as you pointed out the PKE meters would almost certainly have LED displays. It would be a little unrealistic for the film not to show the passage of time through the Ghostbusting technology.

See my first answer about this. Traps activated by phones? Using easily hackable tech for a vital part of the job? Absolutely not. If the busters have been out of business then tech would not advance at all. If they have been in business then like every service industry (fire department, police department, food industry, custodial services) they would have long ago established standards putting a slowed equipment advancing to a crawl. Closest they would get to equipment advancing is what the video game offered which was simply add-ons.

IMDB says of Jason Reitman: Frequently works with J.K. Simmons, Sam Elliott, Jason Bateman. How would you like to see those actors utilized in GB20?

Jason Bateman I'd love to see as a Ghostbuster. He does a great job of being the heart of a group that it would be nice to have that brought in and carried on if Aykroyd doesn't return for future films. Sam Elliott I'd like to see as a cop that's finally on the Ghostbusters side. He's old enough to have been round in '84 and '89. He'd be retired by now but it would be interesting to turn the authorities in the GB's allies. J. K. Simmons I'd love to see as an Ivo Shandor type character. Louis Tully, Janosz Poha and Rowan North were all social rejects. i'd like a villain that almost makes you root for him so as the police switch sides you may get the same with the public.

Obviously the new team has to be young to carry on a series of movies.

But Bateman and Simmons are good choices for supporting cast. Simmons could be an old Ray's friend who come around to help. Bateman a reverse Peck, who is sent to investigate the Busters but he loves them.

I'd like an Ivan Reitman cameo. He's face to face with Ray (or, better, Peter) and spout: "I believe you're full of crap!" or "My son says you're full of crap!"

Interesting idea to think about. The films offer so many sources for acquaintances. Coworkers at Columbia University. Employees and customers from Ray's Occult Books. All the interviewees mentioned by Venkman in GB1. The guests and crew of Venkman's World of the Psychic. Coworkers and test subjects from the Institute for Advanced Theoretical Research. Customers from the time the Ghostbusters were in service. I would have Simmons play someone we've already seen in the GB films but there are so many ways he could be incoporated into the story.

"Ok. opening at number 2, to sub 50 million, next to the 2nd weekend of an animated kids movie, is NEGATIVE. Let me just clear that up right now. There is no middle ground on this. Studios DO NOT spend 100 million in marketing money to open at number 2. No sir. No. No. No. No." - Richardless

Thanks for proving my point. The equipment therefore should look more advanced in the time that has passed.

Traps activated by phones? Using easily hackable tech for a vital part of the job? Absolutely not.

Who says it would be easily hackable? If it used an app that only the Ghostbusters had access to how could anyone hack it?

Besides, everything is done via smartphones now. It would be unrealistic for the film not to reflect this part of society.

If the busters have been out of business then tech would not advance at all.

I hugely doubt they're repeating that trope after it was used in Ghostbusters 2. The Ghostbusters will have been in business.

If they have been in business then like every service industry (fire department, police department, food industry, custodial services) they would have long ago established standards putting a slowed equipment advancing to a crawl. Closest they would get to equipment advancing is what the video game offered which was simply add-ons.

I completely disagree. The technology would have no doubt been modernised and therefore much more advanced than before.

Who says it would be easily hackable? If it used an app that only the Ghostbusters had access to how could anyone hack it?

Besides, everything is done via smartphones now. It would be unrealistic for the film not to reflect this part of society.

The definition of hacking is "the gaining of unauthorized access to data in a system or computer" You're argument is how can it be hacked if someone doesn't have access. The entire pointing of hacking is gaining access to something you're not supposed to. And hardly anything is done by smartphones now. They are used for cameras, internet access and phone calls. That's it. Hardly a necessity.

I completely disagree. The technology would have no doubt been modernized and therefore much more advanced than before.

You can't disagree that service industries (like most industries) are standardized. it's done out of convience but also out of government control. It must be standardized. It's the law and as pointed out many times in the films even the Ghostbusters must listen to the government.

We're done discussing this. It's clogging up this very nice thread and your ideas have been blatantly wrong too many times for me to take you seriously.